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Posted: Friday, 25 December 2009 8:41AM
Court goes on, Christmas Eve or not
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SKOKIE (STNG) -- “Merry Christmas in jail!” jeers Mr. Potter, the cruel town banker in the classic holiday movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
On Christmas Eve at Cook County Circuit in Skokie, a 31-year-old Morton Grove man believed he fulfilled Potter’s dark heckle.
Instead, Judge James Murray Jr. said, “You’re free to go.”
“I thought I was going to get locked up again. I’ve already done four days in Cook County Jail,” said the man outside the courtroom, shook, yet relieved.
In October 2007, he was arrested in Lincolnwood for misdemeanor possession of a hypodermic needle.
On Thursday, he pleaded guilty, paid a fine and Murray released him for time served.
“I would’ve been devastated, really. Now I can spend Christmas with my girlfriend, our 15-month-old baby and my Mom and Dad.”
Though it is Christmas Eve, business of the courts plodded ahead as always -- bonds and tickets paid, court dates continued and arrest warrants issued.
The daily court call at Skokie Circuit is about 425 cases, but on Christmas Eve only 142 were scheduled and only three of 14 courtrooms were in session.
Wearing a tie and an argyle sweater, Allan Rohr, 21 had made the five-hour drive up from hometown St. Louis, Mo., to contest a ticket he received from Illinois State Police.
Rohr said an Illinois Department of Transportation truck rear-ended his vehicle in an Interstate 294 tollbooth near O’Hare International Airport in October.
Forty-five minutes later, Rohr emerged from the courtroom, putting on a winter jacket, clenching his returned driver’s license in his teeth.
“I’m happy. I beat the system. The officer didn’t show up,” smiled Rohr, a student at Eastern Illinois University, Charleston.
Donald Rendler-Kaplan, a private attorney and Skokie resident, believed the holidays at times changed people’s behavior in court.
“I think people are a little more tolerant, thinking that since they have to be here in court, they try to make the best of things,” he said.
“And yet sometimes a judge will tell people, 'This is the time of year to be more responsible and behave better,’” said Rendler-Kaplan, 62.
His traffic citation continued to a later date, 78-old-year Eugene Brooks, waited for his ride home to Evanston.
“Yeah, I’m annoyed, thinking when I got up today of spending the day in this place. I would’ve been out and about today, messing around,” said Brooks, a waste hauler for Browning Ferris Industries for 32 years.
“But I’ll still see my son tonight for Christmas and his son. It’ll be alright,” he said.
Still, the courtroom mood was glum, except for prosecutors and public defenders, typically laughing and joking before the judge enters the courtroom.
Before approaching the bench, defendants held their traffic tickets in hand, as well as credit cards and cash to pay fines. Everyone was in a rush to leave.
Murray looked into the eyes of a tall, expressionless young man wearing a brown leather coat.
“Son, complete this four-week drug school, and your case goes away,” he said.
Rendler-Kaplan said the nation’s faltering economy was wearing on people, especially those without jobs and in need of legal help.
“I look at some of my clients and see real struggling. One had 18 years on the job and last Friday was his last day. Job gone and just like that,” said Rendler-Kaplan, flipping on his leather cap before heading out to freezing rain on Old Orchard Road.
“God bless us all, anyway,” he called out over his shoulder.
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Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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